Tube cleaner motor



April 11, 1939.

P. E. GOOD. 2, 5 ,3 8

TUBE CLEANER MOTOR Filed July 26, 1937 5 Sheets-Sheet l April 11, P 5 GOOD TUBE cmAmaR MOTOR Filed July 26, 1957 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 April 11, 1939.

P. E. GOOD TUBE CLEANER MOTOR Filed July 26, 1937 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 x Arm i P. E. GO-OD April 11, 1939.

TUBE CLEANER MOTOR Filed July 26, 1937 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 y 716s at ial-M ys y flit/ A r l 11, 1939.

P. E. GOOD TUBE CLEANER MOTOR Filed July 26, 1937 5 Sheets-Sheet fz verzr:

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. w mmw UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TUBE CLEANER MOTOR Paul E. Good,

Riverton, N. J.

Application July 26, 1937, Serial No. 155,809

15 Claims.

This invention relates to rotary motors, and more particularly to an improvement in motors of the type shown in my copending application Serial No. 16,719, filed April 16, 1935, for Rotary 5 motor. 7

An important object of this invention is the provision in a device of this character of a structure such that the motor may be very readily assembled and may be readily constructed in such 10 small sizes as are necessary in the production of tube cleaner motors and the like.

Another object of the invention is the provisionof a novel and improved rotor structure incorporating the use of a sleeve which makes possible the ready formation of supply ports, the insurance of proper sealing engagement of the rotor with the faces of the rotary pistons employed in the type of motor under discussion and enables the rotor as a whole to be readily and cheaply manufactured and to be of light weight, and at the same time extremely strong and durable.

Another object of the invention is the provision in a structure of this character of an arrangement such that the cylinder portion may be made sectional when so desired, thus facilitating the necessary machining operations and enabling a desired number of cylinder sections to be employed whereby to obtain a desired horse 30 power in the completed product.

Another object of the invention is the production of a readily assembled control unit or governor for motors of this type.

-These and other objects I attain by the construction shown in the accompanying drawings wherein, for the purpose of illustration, I have shown a preferred embodiment of my invention and wherein:

- Fig. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view through 4 a motor constructed in accordance with my invention;

Fig. 2 is a view partially in section of the rotor and the governor head;

Figs. 3, 4 and are sections on lines 3--3, 4-4,

45 and 5-5. of Fig. 1 respectively;

Fig. 6 is a section similar to that of Fig. 3 with the governor units removed;

" Fig. '7 is a sectional view through the cylinder;

Fig. 8 is a section on line 88 of Fig. 3;

50; Fig. 9 is a combined perspective of one of the governor elements;

Fig. 10 is a vertical sectional view through a overnor unit;

Fig. 11 is'a. longitudinal sectional view through a: .slishtly modified motor construction;

Figs. 12 and 13 are sections on lines l2l2 and l3-I3 of Fig. 11;

Fig. 14 is a section on line l4-l4 of Fig. 12;

Fig. 15 is a View partially in section of the rotor of Fig. 11;

Fig. 16 is a section on line l6l6 of Fig. 15;

Fig. 1'? is a fragmentary elevation of the rotor of this form of my invention; and

Fig. 18 is a view of the governor springs utilized in the form of invention shown in Figs. 11 to 17.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, the numeral Ill generally designates a casing having stationary and removable heads ll and 12, the stationary head having exhaust ports I3, and the removable head an inlet port l4. Seated against the stationary head is a thrust plate [5 against which bears the reduced inner end of a cylinder or stator I6. Cylinder I6 is, as illustrated, formed in a plurality of sections comprising an inner end section ll having the reduced end I8 just referred to, an intermediate section or sections l9, and an outer end section 20, the latter being threaded at 2| for engagement with the inner wall of the cylinder so that it may be utilizedto force the cylinder sections solidly into engagement with one another and with the thrust plate IS. The meeting ends of the several sections are similarly formed, being at present shown as provided with stepped faces 22 and adapted for the reception of dowel pins 23 to prevent relative rotation. Obviously, the structure, as illustrated, may be lengthened or foreshortened by addition of another section or sections l9 or by removal of the section so that the inner and end sections ll and are in direct engagement with one another.

Each cylinder section has an individual set of spirally extending grooves 2311 having exhaust ports 23b extending through the wall and communicating with an annular channel 230 produced by reason of the fact that the cylinder sections are of less diameter than the internal diameter of the casing and which channel communicates with the exhaust ports I3 hereinbefore mentioned. The grooves 23a are generatrices of the lobes 33 of the rotary pistons 32 when said pistons and the rotor are rotated at fixed speeds, with the result that these grooves are blocked by lobes of the pistons from end to end as the lobes traverse them.

Rotatable within this cylinder is a rotor 24 which comprises a circular body portion 25 having a reduced end 26 projecting through an opening 21 in the stationary end wall and adapted at 28.1301." the attachment of the usual tube cleaner tools. Intermediate its ends, the body is formed with longitudinally-extending supply grooves 29 producing radial ribs 3%. Through these ribs and through the body, a longitudinal slot 3! is formed to provide a mounting space for the rotary pistons 32. Transverse webbing 34 may be employed in the slot to strengthen the structure, and the slot where it, as in the present instance, extends to the rear end of the rotor body is preferably closed off by inserted cover plates 35. The rear end of the rotor body seats a removable conical plug 36, removal of which afiords access to the slot.

Surrounding the rotor body is a sleeve 3'! which has sealing engagement with the rotor body at its ends and with the outer walls of the ribs, this sleeve having slots 38 for the passage of rotary pistons 32 and ports 39 communicating with the grooves 29 for the delivery of pressure fluid to grooves 23a. In the form at present under discussion, the ribs 3!] at corresponding sides of slot 3% are formed with openings 46 placing the channels at opposite sides thereof in communication with one another. In the walls of the body member 25, and more particularly in the walls defining the slot 3i, hardened steel pieces M are mounted, at present shown as in the form ofscrew plugs extending through the walls and. providing thrust seats against which the pistons 32 engage.

At its rear end the sleeve 3'? is provided with a head 42 the face of which is formed to provide the annular channel i-3 which communicates with the ends of the grooves 29, as more clearly shown in Fig. 2. Between this head and a thrust element 4 carried by the removable head 92 a spacer is employed, this spacer in the present instance being disclosed as a governor head G consisting of inner and outer sections 45 and 45 clamped together and to the head 42 by bolts All, section 45 being integral with the rotor body member 25. The head in general construction is substantially identical with that shown in my copending application Serial No. 146,673, filed June 5, 1937, entitled Governor for tube cleaner motors. Adjacent faces of the sections 45 and G6 are suitably recessed at 8 to receive valve casings 49. These valve casings are each in the form of a thimble, the outer end of which is closed and the inner end of which is in communication with the compartment 5% defined by the converging head, the valve casings and the conical inner end 36 of the rotor body 24 which serves to direct air or other motive fluid entering by way of inlet port M to the openings 5! of the governor head, which align with the several valve casings. The governor head has channels 52 which communicate with ports 53 in the thimble, these ports 53 in turn communicating with ports 54 in the valve body. The valve proper is constantly urged by a spring 55 into a position where the ports 53 and 54 align, the spring and valve being so designed that at predetermined rotative speeds the valves will move outwardly reducing or cutting off entirely the effective port area. The channels 52 are in communication with the annular channel 63 of the sleeve head and thus in communication with the grooves 29.

Obviously, as fully disclosed in application Serial No. 146,673, above noted, the action of the valves may be controlled to give either a serial operation thereof, or to cause the valves to act in selected groups, as, for example, two of the springs may be relatively light, thus causing one governor element associated with each piston supply to close when a predetermined speed is attained, reducing without cutting off entirely the supply to the pistons.

I preferably provide the removable head [2 with packing 55 which engages a sleeve 51, the inner end of which engages the governor head. It will be obvious that in operation the fluid entering the inlet M will pass through openings 51, ports 53 and 5 3, channels 52 and "53 to supply grooves 29 from which, through ports 39, it will pass to the rooves 23a to act upon the pistons 32. It will be noted from Fig. 5 that a tight sealing engagement between the sleeve 3'? and the pistons is essential, for otherwise the incoming air would leak past the piston to the slot 3! and through this slot to the opposite side of the rotor body where it would escape to the grooves 23a and to the exhaust ports. The sleeve structure employed about the rotor body enables a tight fit to be assured, and also enables ready adjustment in event of wear. This sleeve may be rotated until it has the desired fit against the piston body and then secured in place, as by means of the bolts 41. The necessary latitude for this setting and adjustment may be readily provided by making the openings 58 for bolts M of slightly greater diameter than these bolts. The sleeve also facilitates construction in that it enables production of the supply grooves without the necessity for extensive coring, drilling, or milling operations otherwise necessary which become difficult with reduction in size of the structure. It also enables the ready installation of the seats ll for the pistons.

The form shown in Figs. 11 to 17 modifies the structure of the remaining figures to incorporate the double porting system described in my copending application Serial No. 16,719 above noted, and illustrates the ease with which the form already described lends itself to modification to this end. In this form the cylinder casing and governor head construction are substantially identical with those just described, and no further description thereof is necessary except to state that in the governor head the channel communicating with the ports 53 is subdivided through partitions 59 into four channels 60. Similarly, the channel in the head of the'sleeve is divided by partitions 6| into a plurality of channels 62 each communicating with one of the channels til and with one of the supply grooves. The supply grooves themselves are divided into two groups 29a and 29b. The sleeve has in communication with each supply groove 2% a port 63 for each groove group so disposed that it has an early cut-ofi from the groove; that is to say, this port traverses an annular band which includes only a short alignment with the grooves of its port seat and, accordingly, supplies a limited amount or fluid thereto. The grooves 29a through ducts 64 extending through the grooves 29?) communicate with ports 65 axially offset with relation to the associated ports 63 which supply two of the three groove groups and are so disposed that they have a late cut-off; in other words, travel a relatively extensive band of the group. The governor elements which control the several channels 6:) supplying the grooves 29a and, accordingly, the ports 65, are provided with relatively light springs, as illustrated in Fig. 18 at 66, so that the supply to the grooves 29a is cut off at a relatively low speed as compared to the supply to the grooves 291) the governor elements of which have the heavier springs 61.

Since the construction illustrated and described is, obviously, capable of considerable modification beyond that generally indicated, I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself to the particular forms herein illustrated except as hereinafter claimed.

I claim:

1. In a rotary motor comprising an internally spirally grooved stator, a rotor rotatable within the stator and rotatable pistons carried by the rotor and having lobes blocking said grooves from end to end as the rotor is rotated, said rotor comprising a circular body portion having intermediate its ends a circumferential series of longitudinal supply grooves forming ribs, and a longitudinal diametral slot in which said pistons are mounted, sleeve means sealingly engaged with the ends of said body and the outer faces of said ribs, said sleeve means having slots for the passage of the lobes of said pistons and ports for the delivery of pressure fluid to the grooves of the stator, means to deliver pressure fluid to v the grooves of the body member, and means to exhaust fluid from the grooves of the stator.

2. In a rotary motor comprising an internally spirally grooved stator, a rotor rotatable within the stator and rotatable pistons carried by the rotor and having lobes blocking said grooves from end to end as the rotor is rotated, said stator comprising a cylinder including end sections and an intermediate section, each of said sections having an independent series of grooves, the meeting faces of the sections having complemental faces, the adjacent faces of the end sections being. complemental with one another, the rotor including rotatable pistons for each of the groove groups, means to supply fluid to the grooves and means to exhaust fluid from the grooves.

3. In a rotary motor comprising an internally spirally grooved stator, a rotor rotatable within the stator and rotatable pistons carried by the rotor and having lobes blocking said grooves from end to end as the rotor is rotated, said rotor comprising a circular body portion having intermediate its ends a circumferential series of longitudinal supply grooves forming ribs, and a longitudinal diametral slot in which said pistons are mounted, sleeve means sealingly engaged with the ends of said body and the outer faces of .said ribs, said sleeve means having slots for the passage of the lobes of said pistons and ports for the delivery of pressure fluid to the grooves of the stator, a connection between the sleeve and body member permitting limited rotational adjustment of the sleeve, means to deliver pressure fluid to the grooves of the body member, and means to exhaust fluid from the grooves of the stator.

4. In a rotary motor comprising an internally spirally grooved stator, a rotor rotatable within the stator and rotatable pistons carried by the rotor and having lobes blocking said grooves from end to end as the rotor is rotated, said stator comprising a cylinder including end sections and an intermediate section each of said sections having an independent series of grooves, the meeting faces of the sections having complemental faces, the adjacent faces of the end sections being complemental with one another, a casing for the motor including an end wall against which the outer end of one end section abuts, and an adjustable connection between the other end section and the casing, the rotor including rotatable pistons for each of the groove groups, means to supply fluid to the grooves and means to exhaust fluid from the grooves.

5. In a rotary motor comprising an internally spirally grooved stator, a rotor rotatable within the stator and rotatable pistons carried by the rotor and having lobes blocking said grooves from end to end as the rotor is rotated, said rotor comprising a circular body portion having intermediate its ends a circumferential series of longitudinal supply grooves forming ribs, and a longitudinal diametral slot in which said pistons are mounted, sleeve means sealingly engaged with the ends of said body and the outer faces of said ribs, said sleeve means having slots for the passage of the lobes of said pistons and ports for the delivery of pressure fluid to the grooves of the stator, governor elements carried by said body and controlling the delivery of pressure fluid to the grooves of the body portion, and means to exhaust fluid from the grooves of the stator.

6. In a rotary motor comprising an internally spirally grooved stator, a rotor rotatable within the stator and rotatable pistons carried by the rotor and having lobes blocking said grooves from end to end as the rotor is rotated, said stator comprising a cylinder including end sections and an intermediate section each of said sections having an independent series of grooves, the meeting faces of the sections having complemental faces, the adjacent faces of the end sections being complemental with one another, a casing combining with the cylinder to hold the sections in assembled relation and to produce an annular exhaust channel, the rotor including rotatable pistons for each of the groove groups means to supply fluid to thegrooves and means to exhaust fluid from the grooves to said channel.

7. In a rotary motor comprising an internally spirally grooved stator, a rotor rotatable within the stator and rotatable pistons carried by the rotor and having lobes blocking said grooves from end to end as the rotor is rotated, said rotor comprising a circular body member having intermediate its ends a circumferential series of longitudinal supply grooves forming ribs, and a longitudinal diametral slot in which said pistons are mounted, sleeve means sealingly engaged with the ends of said body and the outer faces of said ribs, said sleeve means having slots for the passage of the lobes of said pistons and ports for the delivery of pressure fluid to the grooves of the stator, governor elements carried by said body and controlling the delivery of pressure fluid to the grooves of the body member, said governor elements comprising a plurality of spring-resisted centrifugally-operated valves including valves operating to reduce the pressure fluid supply at different rotor speeds, and means to exhaust fluid from the grooves of the stator.

8. In a rotary motor comprising an internally spirally grooved stator, a rotor rotatable within the stator and rotatable pistons carried by the rotor and having lobes blocking said grooves from end to end as the rotor is rotated, said rotor comprising a circular body member having intermediate its ends a circumferential series of longitudinal supply grooves forming ribs, and a longitudinal diametral slot in which said pistons are mounted, sleeve means sealingly engaged with the ends of said body and the outer faces of said ribs, said sleeve means having slots for the passage of the lobes of said pistons and ports for the delivery of pressure fluid to the grooves of the stator, said ports including axially oifset ports serving the same groove series, said axially offset ports being supplied from different grooves, governor means individually controlling said grooves and effective to reduce or terminate the pressure fluid supply to the grooves at different rotative speeds of the rotor, and means to exhaust fluid from the grooves of the stator.

9. .A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein the fluid pressure delivery means includes a governor element for and individually controlling each supply groove.

10. A device as claimed in claim 3 wherein the fluid pressure delivery means includes: a governor element for and individually controlling each supply groove.

11. In a rotary motor comprising an internally spirally grooved stator, a rotor rotatable within the stator and rotatable pistons carried by the rotor and having lobes. blocking said grooves from end to end as the rotor is rotated, said rotor comprising a circular body member having intermediate its ends a circumferential series of longitudinal supply grooves fanning ribs, and a longitudinal cliametral slot in which said pistons are mounted, sleeve means sealingly engaged with the ends of said body and the outer faces of said ribs, said sleeve means having slots for the passage of the lobes of said pistons and ports for the delivery of pressure fluid to the grooves of the stator, said ports. including axially offset ports serving the same groove series whereby said ports have periods of communication with the groove series of different duration, said axially offset ports being supplied from different grooves, governor .means controlling the grooves supplying the ports having the longer communication period, and means to exhaust fluid from the grooves of the stator.

12. In a rotary motor comprising relatively rotatable elements one of which has in its surface a series of spiral grooves and the other of which carries rotatable pistons having lobes blocking said grooves from end to end as the elements are relatively rotated, said other element comprising a body portion having intermediate its ends a series of longitudinal supply grooves and having a slot mounting said pistons, rotatably adjustable sleeve means sealingly engaged with the ends of said body portion and with the surface of the body portion between the grooves, said sleeve means having slots for the passage of the lobes of said pistons and ports for the delivery of pressure to the grooves of the first element, means to deliver pressure fluid to the grooves of said body portion and means to exhaust fluid from the grooves of the first-named element.

13. In a rotary motor comprising an internally spirally grooved stator, a rotor rotatable within the stator and rotatable pistons carried by the rotor and having lobes blocking said grooves from end to end as the rotor is rotated, said stator comprising a cylinder including a plurality of annular sections, each having an independent series of grooves, adjacent faces of the sections having complemental faces, the rotor including rotary pistons for each of the groove groups, means to supply fluid to the grooves and means to exhaust fluid from the grooves.

14. In a rotary motor comprising relatively rotatable elements one of which hasin its surface a series of spiral grooves and the other of which carries rotatable pistons having lobes blocking said grooves from end to end as the elements are relatively rotated, said other element comprising a body portion having intermediate its ends a series of longitudinal supply grooves. and having a slot mounting said pistons, sleeve means sealingly engaged with the ends of said body porc tion and with the surface of the body portion between the grooves, said sleeve means having slots. for the passage of the lobes of said pistons and ports for the delivery of pressure fluid to the ports of the first element, means to deliver pressure fluid to the grooves of said body portion and means to exhaust fluid from the grooves of the first-named element.

15. In a rotary motor comprising an internally spirally grooved outer member, an inner member Within the outer member and rotatable pistons carried by the inner member and having lobes blocking said grooves from end to end as the members are relatively rotated, said outer member comprising a cylinder including end sections and an intermediate section, each of said sections having an independent series of grooves, the meeting faces of the sections having complemental faces, the inner member including rotary pistons for each of the groove groups, means to supply fluid to the grooves and means to exhaust fluid from the grooves.

PAUL E. GOOD. 

